Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City
Embedded between the broader fields of social and digital entrepreneurship, the concept of 'smart cities' can be conceptualized as a domain that is currently pre-paradigmatic-that is, one in which multiple yet unaligned models exist, marked by the absence of a single dominant one. Despite such shortcomings, there is a reflective similarity across ecosystems as the various players attempt to converge on a common understanding of the term smart city. The common objective of smart city implementation is to spark economic growth and social development, facilitated by collaborative dialogue and innovations in technology. We integrate theoretical lenses to explore the roles played by ecosystem actors, stakeholders, and socioeconomic and political agents in creating economic value and solving societal problems-particularly highlighting opportunities and challenges to bottom-up innovation from local entrepreneurs.
Swot Analysis of "Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City" written by Sumita Sarma, Sanwar A. Sunny includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Smart City facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Strategic planning and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Smart City, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Smart City operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Smart City
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Smart City
Strengths Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Smart City in Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Smart City
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Smart City does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Smart City is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Smart City is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Smart City is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Smart City to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Smart City to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Smart City in the sector have low bargaining power. Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Smart City to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Smart City has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Smart City is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Smart City has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
High brand equity
– Smart City has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Smart City to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Smart City are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Smart City is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Smart City in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Smart City is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Smart City is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City, is just above the industry average. Smart City needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City, in the dynamic environment Smart City has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Smart City has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Smart City needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Smart City supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Smart City vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Smart City is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Smart City needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Smart City to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City, it seems that the employees of Smart City don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Smart City has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of Smart City products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Smart City needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Smart City has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Smart City to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Manufacturing automation
– Smart City can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Smart City is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Smart City in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Smart City in the consumer business. Now Smart City can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Smart City has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Smart City can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Smart City operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Smart City can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Smart City to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Smart City to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Smart City has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Smart City to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City case study. Smart City can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Smart City can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Smart City to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Buying journey improvements
– Smart City can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Threats Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Smart City high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Smart City in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Smart City demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Smart City with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Smart City
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Smart City.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Smart City can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Smart City needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Smart City can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Smart City can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Regulatory challenges
– Smart City needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Smart City is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Smart City will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Smart City in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Smart City has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Smart City needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Civic Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Smart City Emergence in Kansas City is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Smart City needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.